Managing in the Middle

I think classroom management is a difficult thing no matter the grade level and I have been trying to discover a technique that works for my student and for me. To get student attention I use call out responses and clapping but that only goes so far. I have been using a point system on the board in which the whole class gets points for positive behaviors and can lose points for negative behavior. This had been working well until recently. I used winter break to find different ideas. There are so many amazing and fun ideas out there that the students would love. I want to make sure my new system isn't too much work for me and is appropriate for 6th graders. 

One of my discoveries was Class Dojo. I had seen it before but had never really looked into it. After discussing it with other teachers and reading countless blogs about it, I have decided to give it a shot. I have spent some time coming up with rewards and corresponding point values. Luckily, I have some extra time due to extremely cold temperatures and school being canceled. 

Below, I have posted the rewards I have come up with so far. I don't want to start off with too much. These are individual rewards that students can "cash" in their points for. I've decided that they can cash in points on Fridays to prevent too much craziness. To turn in points I added a negative behavior that is "cash in points" so students do not have to use all their points. In the future I may add whole class rewards but I think individual rewards is what my classes needs at the moment.

Reward	Number of Points
Pencil	2 pts.
No shoes in class	10 pts.
Scratch Off Ticket	10 pts.
Piece of candy	15 pts.
Lunch with a friend in the classroom	20 pts.
Use seat cushion or use the duct tape chair for a class period	30  pts.
Pick from Ms. S's box	35 pts.
Pick a seat for a week	40 pts.
Homework pass	50 pts
Pack of gum or Soda in class	50 pts.